CHAPTER FOUR:
SKELETONS AND SHIT..

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  BILLIE DISLIKED A LOT OF THINGS. Her dad, Johnny and Cobra Kai, regular cars (Just too boring.). But she absolutely despised math. It was just so pointless! Well, at least the letters and numbers shit. Like, hello, she thought letters were just for language arts, not math! Also, it just gets way too complicated. In her opinion, all she needed to know was to count, add, subtract, multiply, and divide; not how to multiply exponents.

But lately, instead of rolling her eyes and biting her bottom lip the whole math class, Billie has been somewhat enjoying math. The reason? Well, she guessed it could be Daniel LaRusso—or maybe she was just turning a new leaf—one that smiled and giggled and even payed attention in class. It was—weird to say the least. Whenever Daniel was in the room, it's like her attitude immediately "fixed" itself. She would get all excited and butterflies would dance in her stomach—she would even blush. Billie-Jean Rodriguez almost never blushed. So why, all of a sudden, was this sassy, tan, Italian boy with big, bright brown eyes making her all mushy?

  To be completely honest, Billie had no clue whatsoever.

  Romance and crushes were never something that had really had a place in her life. She'd liked a few boys here and there, and even gone on a few causal dates—but never, never had she been this—what was the term? Oh—down bad. No other boy made her heart pound and her cheeks blaze red. Please, no other boy had even come close to making her laugh so genuinely and so uncontrollably.

It just didn't make sense. Why him, and why now?

She didn't think she'd ever find the answer to that question. Now, maybe if she would get her eyes off of the back of Daniel's head, maybe she would know what page her math homework was on for tonight.

  "Your homework for today is on page 45. Do only evens—or if your an overachiever—do the odds too."

Finally peeling her eyes off Daniel, Billie nodded along with the rest of the class, not flinching as the bell rang and sent everyone into a rush to get to lunch. She threw her things into her backpack carelessly, especially her shit book—oh—she means math book. While she was focused on that, she didn't even notice Daniel standing over her and her desk with an admiring smirk.

  "Hey—hey. Be careful there—you'll squish your math book," he teased, earning a blushing eye roll from Billie.

"That's the point, Danny," she replied, going to stand up on her own before Daniel stuck his hand out. "Huh?"

He looked her right in the eyes. "You gonna stare at it all today or are you gonna take it?"

"Oh—shush." Billie took his hand, feeling the butterflies in her stomach make their return. After she was standing, Daniel oddly kept their hands together longer than normal, bright irises seemingly glued to their united hands; before he stuttered out something inaudible that sounded somewhat like a sorry and pulled his hand away.

"You, uh—heading to lunch?" Daniel asked, eyes looking anywhere but Billie.

"Yeah. You headed there too?" Billie replied, grinning despite her best efforts. She didn't wanna come off as weird, but, honestly, if it was anyone in their odd relationship that was weird, it was Daniel. He was the one who was constantly switching between stuttering and confident—not her.

  "Mhmhm. Do you wanna maybe walk together?" Daniel asked hopefully, big brown eyes gazing into hers pleadingly.

  She felt her face grow hot as her hazel ones reluctantly met his. Doing a thing as simple as eye contact was difficult with him. Why? It just didn't make sense, but that doesn't mean she wasn't going to take him up on his offer. "Yeah. I'd like that," Billie said truthfully. She wanted to say that she really liked it, but that sounded like a little too much. "Actually, I've noticed that you don't really have a lot of friends—uh—that sounded wrong—um—well, I was wondering if you wanted to eat with me and my crew?" Damn you, emotions. Why can't you just calm the hell down for five seconds. Billie thought, internally rolling her eyes.

  "Really? Yeah. That'd be great actually." Daniel was beaming, brighter than Billie had ever seen before. It was contagious, so Billie couldn't help but beam too.

  "Great," Billie said cheerfully, more cheerfully than she had wanted. "Come on. We'll be late to lunch, and I'm sure you don't wanna be. Right, Danny?"

Daniel's eyes seemed to light up. "Right. Who wouldn't wanna miss the cafeteria's famous soggy tatter tots?"

"I know, right! You'd have to be crazy," Billie chuckled, hazel eyes shining. Billie's beam didn't leave; in fact, it quite overstayed its welcome, as it occupied her face the whole way to the cafeteria. She felt like she was soaring, and it was a feeling she was very confused by. Actually, she was almost annoyed. What in the actual hell is wrong with me? She thought as she and Daniel walked through the large, metal doors of the cafeteria.

  "You bring a lunch?" Daniel asked, turning towards Billie with his hands in his pockets. "I've got a little more money than normal, so I can hook you up if you'd like."

  "Oh hell no, Danny. That's your money, not mine," Billie shot down, raising a brow at the Italian boy. "Besides, I've got my own mola right here," she explained as she took out a ten from her leather jacket pocket.

  "Mola, huh?"

  "Yup, mola."

  Daniel chuckled. "Whatever, Rodriguez. I'll beat you to the line!" he said as he suddenly took off, fast walking through students to the back of the lunch line.

  "Hey, what the hell!" Billie exclaimed as she raced after him, pushing past a few people giving her weird looks. Eventually, she made it to the line, but Daniel was already a few people ahead. Damn you, LaRusso. She thought annoyedly, shaking her head.

He was smirking at her, shrugging his shoulders and raising his eyebrows. Daniel then turned around, grabbing a tray from a stack next to the food compartments. Billie decided she would not lose that easily, and got out of line, walking forward and tapping the girl in line behind Daniel on the back.

  "Hey, Sherri," Billie greeted, smiling awkwardly at the straight-haired girl.

  "Hey, Billie. What's up?" Sherri asked, furrowing her brows down at Billie. Billie had Language Arts with Sherri, and they conversed practically every day in class, but not usually out of class—so she hoped this didn't look too odd.

  "You think I could slip in front of you? Sorry, but I just really need to talk to someone," Billie quipped, looking hopefully at her acquaintance.

"Sure, I'm not in a hurry. Have fun," Sherri replied, winking at her and turning around to grab a tray.

"Great, thanks," Billie said, squeezing in front of her and tapping Daniel on the back. He turned towards her, smirk even bigger than before. "You are an absolute idiot."

"Mhmm. Says the girl who forgot to grab a tray," Daniel teased, pulling an extra tray from underneath his own. "Here, I decided to be a gentleman and get you one. Had the feeling you'd forget."

  "Thanks," Billie said with a twinge of sarcasm, taking the tray and beginning to choose which food she wanted. As she picked up a spoon to get some strawberries, she looked over at Daniel. "So, how's the Valley been treating you?"

"It's not dull," he responded, looking a little fazed at the question.

"Was Newark dull?" Billie questioned, smirking as Daniel turned to her with a look of astonishment. Cassidy, in her ever-nosiness, had asked around and found out some basic facts about Daniel, which she couldn't help but blab to Billie at any time she could. It was quite annoying at the time, but now it was actually coming decently in handy.

"Hey, how'd you know I'm from Newark?" he asked in confusion and interest, eyes locking right with Billie's.

"Cassidy. That's all I'll say."

"Ah, okay. So Cassidy's got a thing for me?"

"Hell no! Where'd you get that?"

"I dunno... instinct?" he said, laughing. "I mean, what else am I supposed to think?"

"That you're new and she was curious," Billie told. "Don't ever assume, Danny. It'll get you into trouble."

"Got it, Oh Wise One. I'll take the advice."

  "Oh, whatever." Billie rolled her eyes, nudging Daniel playfully. "Hey, you remember Johnny, right?"

  "How could I ever forget King Karate?"

  "Yeah... he's kinda my ex-best friend," Billie revealed cautiously, gaging Daniel's reaction. She knew she didn't owe him an explanation, but she felt it would at least give him some sort of clarity on the whole situation.

  "Only your ex-best friend? Damn, with how he acts about you, I figured you guys dated," Daniel said in shock, shaking his head. "But why is he so overprotective if you guys were only friends?"

It was Billie's turn to shrug. "I think he has a different interpretation of our relationship—one I detest in every freaking way possible."

"So, let me get this straight," Daniel began, running a hand through his hair. "He thinks just 'cause you used to be friends he has dibs on you?"

"Pretty much."

"Asshole."

"You got that right."

When their smiles greeted each other with glee, Billie's stomach jolted, causing her to feel a blush creeping up her cheeks. After a few moments, she tore her eyes from Daniel, as to not fall deeper into his charm and embarrass herself. As if you haven't already done that. She thought, internally rolling her eyes.

  As she was checking out, out of the corner of her eye she looked at Daniel beside her, awaiting her to finish so they could head to her table. He was stood impatiently, tapping his foot on the floor. It seemed he could never sit still, and Billie—for some reason—quite liked that about him. In fact, she was starting to find a lot of things about him that she enjoyed. Damn you, LaRusso. She thought fondly. You're gonna be the damn death of me.

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  AS SHE THREW ON HER SHIRT AND PANTS, BILLIE HUFFED, ANNOYED AS HELL. The past few days have been extremely aggravating for Billie, and she was almost sure they would continue to be.

  Firstly, her stupid-ass father practically threw a fit when she got back from her mom's; saying all kinds of crap like "you need to spend more time with me" and "you will respect me, Billie-Jean." Apparently, he just can't get it through his thick skull that Billie wanted nothing to do with him, and it was damaging their relationship even more.

  Secondly, Johnny still won't leave her alone, and even came by her dad's the other day—completely uninvited by the way; but since her father is an idiot, he let him stay all the way in till after dinner! Billie nearly killed herself that night; it was horrible.

  And last but not least, Daniel had been ignoring her! The past two times she tried talking to him, he had waltzed off quicker than Billie could run. Why? Well, she figured it was Johnny, but still—it was infuriating! Even though Billie hated Johnny, she still wasn't scared of him—so she didn't understand why Daniel was. Well, she did, but she still thought it was stupid. He'd stood up to him before, so why avoid it now?

  Men. Billie thought, rolling her eyes angrily. So damn stupid.

  At the moment, Billie was in her room at her mom's, finishing getting ready for the Halloween dance. Since she didn't have a date to dress up with, Billie had picked out her own costume, and chosen to go as Roberto Clemente; one of her absolute favorite athletes of all time. He was one of the best baseball players of all time (In Billie's opinion.), and he was Puerto Rican—so that made him even better. She already had his jersey from when her mom found it in a store a few years ago in NYC, so all she had needed was some white pants—which she had—and a bat—which she stole from her dad's. All in all, despite not having a date, Billie was quite excited; she had only gone to one party in her life—but she only ended up staying for twenty minutes because she found out there was alcohol, and Billie didn't really want to deal with all that it brings.

"Billie! Are you ready? If we don't leave soon you'll miss the party!" Maria yelled from outside Billie's room, knocking on the door quite loudly.

  "Yeah, Mom! I'll be right there!" Billie yelled back, turning towards her mirror and quickly fixing a piece of hair that had fallen out of her messy bun. Her hair was supposed to look worn out, like she'd just played a game of baseball—but it just looked like she was trying too hard. Whatever. Billie thought. It doesn't matter. It's not like anyone important is gonna be there.

Smoothing out her hair one more time, Billie opened the door and stepped out, meeting her mother outside the front door. The ride over was... interesting. Maria spend most of the time ranting about her own Halloween dance, to which Billie half-listened the best she could; but her mind keep wandering elsewhere. Would Daniel be at the dance? She honestly had no clue. He didn't have a date, and certainly not any friends—so he probably wouldn't be there. It bummed Billie out a bit to come to that conclusion, but she choose not to focus on that. She didn't need Daniel to have fun—she had her friends and that was good enough. Who needs men anyway? Not me! She concluded enthusiastically, taking a deep, excited breath as her mother pulled up close to the front door.

  "Alright, Billie. Have fun," her mother said, smiling wide at her daughter. "But not too much fun. I'll be here at 11:30 to pick you up. I love you."

  "Love you too, Mom," Billie replied, grinning at her mother before getting out of her car; making sure to grab her bat on her way out.

  Feeling a new jolt of excitement, Billie made her way to the front door and pushed it open, hazel eyes immediately lighting up as she gazed upon the party. There were balloons, streamers, ghosts, and all sorts of Halloween decorations thrown on the walls; it looked very fitting to be a Halloween party. Of course, she expected nothing less from the student government—they were really adamant that this party went well. She would know; Cassidy would not shut up about it.

  Pushing her way through the crowd, Billie spotted Ali, Susan, and Cassidy; all stood around each other with their drinks in the store bought red cups. Billie practically bounced up to them, grinning from ear to ear.

  "Billie!" Cassidy exclaimed, running over and giving her a hug. "God, what took you so long? We were beginning to think you'd be a no show."

  "Hell nah, Cass! How could you think so low of me?" Billie joked, hugging her back; careful not to get her bat too close to Cassidy's back.

  Cassidy pulled away, looking Billie up and down in some kind of confusion and slight recognition. "What did you dress up as?"

  "Isn't it obvious, Cass? She's a baseball player. Now, which one—I couldn't tell you that," Ali cut in playfully, smiling at Billie.

  "Hi, Als," Billie greeted cheerfully. "I'm Roberto Clemente. The best baseball player ever. Well, in my opinion—but we all know my opinion is obviously the most important."

  "Mhmhm. Sure, Billie," Susan spoke up, shaking her head with pursed lips.

  "Hey, Susie. I like the costume. Very... out there," Billie complimented, raising her brows in interest. Susan's costume was out there—out there with purple leopard print and a spiked collar; but hey, Billie was a fan. It was different, and Billie-Jean Rodriguez definitely liked different. A little too much, actually.

  Ali and Cassidy's costumes were less original, opting for the classic angel and devil. Of course, Cass was the devil and Ali was the angel—what else did Billie expect.

  "Thank you, Billie," Susan thanked, smiling. "You here with anyone? Anyone by the name of Daniel LaRusso?"

  "Oh my God, you guys. You have got to stop with the whole Daniel thing! Whe—if it happens I will formally let you know, kay? I don't need you all up in my stuff," Billie reprimanded, rolling her eyes at her friends' antics. They simply smirked at her, mischief clear in their gaze. "Or I'll hit you with this bat. Knock you pests straight to the floor," Billie threatened, holding the bat up as if to show them she was serious.

  "Damn, Billie! We're pests now? God, I don't think we can be friends anymore," Cassidy said dramatically, fake sighing onto Ali—which got her pushed into Susan. The girls erupted into laughter, with Billie making her way between Ali and Cassidy to get more comfortable.

For a while, the four girls just stood there and chatted; cracking up at practically anything and everything in sight. Billie was having the time of her life, and she wouldn't change it for the world. See. She told herself. You don't need Daniel to have fun at some dance. You got yourself and your girls, and that's all that matters.

Beaming brighter than any star, Billie giggled; laughing at Susan's comment about the guy who just walked in with a shower as his costume. Yes, a whole damn shower! It was hilarious—but honestly, quite creative. Billie should definitely take some notes of that idea. It would be fun to show up to her dad's birthday dressed like that—just for spite. As she continued looking at the shower, she realized that she oddly recognized the guy's body movements, before the dots continued. Daniel? No... it couldn't be. She thought, face laced with shock. The shower—no—Daniel was spinning around awkwardly, looking lost. Billie sighed, knowing she had to do something—and kinda wanting too—but she wouldn't admit that.

"You know what, I think Daniel's the shower," Billie said suddenly, causing Susan to gawk at her.

"Really? How do you know?" she asked in confusion.

Billie sighed, shaking her head with a grin that she desperately wished would go away. "I just know. Only he could be stupid enough to come as a whole shower."

"Ah, stop acting like you don't like it, Billie!" Cassidy scolded. "Go get your man!"

Billie rolled her eyes as they began pushing her away; giving her no choice but to listen to Cassidy's urges. She turned around and stuck her tongue out at her friends, before slipping throughout the crowd to get to the shower taking up space in the middle of the packed room. When she finally made it, she pulled open the curtains, seemingly startling the boy inside.

Daniel's brown eyes widened, and his face broke out into a big smile; his pure elation and eagerness making Billie's stomach fill with large, flapping butterflies. "Hey, Stranger. What brings you by the shower? Need a good soak?"

  "Nah, I got one in before the party," Billie said, smile creeping it's way up her face despite her best efforts. "I came here to talk to you, Danny. So, where have you been hiding?"

  Daniel shut the shower curtains, causing Billie to move closer to his form. "Well, I haven't been hiding," Daniel defended, guilt shining some from his big brown irises.

  "Well, I haven't seen you 'round," Billie restated, raising her eyebrows at him questioningly.

  "You been looking?"

  "Maybe, maybe not."

  "So that's a yes?"

  "Sure, it's a yes," Billie gave in, rolling her eyes.

  "Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be," Daniel joked with a toothy smirk.

  "Don't flatter yourself."

  "Oh, I don't need to flatter myself when I've already flattered you," Daniel replied cockily, referring to their second meeting on the beach.

  "Very funny, Danny," Billie said, trying to come off annoyed but failing miserably. It was incredibly difficult to stay mad at him, and Billie was beginning to give it up—especially when he was so damn close to her. "Listen, I'm sorry you're still dealing with Johnny—"

"No, no, don't apologize again, Billie. It's fine. I've been good since I've been actively avoiding him," Daniel reassured, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Well—other than the whole, uh, bike incident."

"Bike incident?"

"Yeah... Johnny may or may not have chased me and my bike off a cliff," Daniel explained cautiously, looking at Billie through his lashes.

"What in the hell?" Billie said in pure anger, hands immediately reaching up to check Daniel's face. "My God, he's such an asshole! His brain is so far up his ass, he can't even think anymore! Ugh, I hate his stupid, ugly, pathetic—"

"—Ass."

"Yeah, that's what I was leading up to," Billie chuckled, right hand resting on the side of Daniel's slightly bruised face. He leaned into her touch, pulling her closer by the waist from his hand that had conveniently made its way down there throughout the conversation. She laid her head on his shoulder, in the crevice between his head and neck. Allowing her hand to fall to his torso, she wrapped both her hands around him, smiling softly at the sensation of Daniel's touch. Billie never lets anyone but her mom and her friends this close—and even that was few and far between—but right now, Daniel had somehow nudged his way into her arms, and surprisingly, she was in heaven. Billie-Jean Rodriguez didn't want this moment to end—ever.

"Say, Billie? You wanna ditch the party and go outside a bit?" Daniel asked, with Billie feeling the vibrations from his throat. It nearly made her shiver, before she snapped back to her senses—or whatever was left of them.

"Oh—sure. It is a little cramped in this place," Billie agreed, pulling away reluctantly. I enjoyed that way too much. Billie thought, wanting to slap herself.

"Alrighty!" Daniel exclaimed brightly, reaching behind Billie to push open the curtains.

The sight they were met with was... something, for sure. A guy was dressed up in a full chicken costume, holding a bag of real eggs and going around smashing them on people's heads. Honestly, it was entertainment at its finest.

"The hell?" Billie said in pure and utter amusement, beginning to crack up.

"Damn, that is some dedication to his costume," Daniel commented, face brightening by the second.

"Yeah, real eggs? Damn, that definitely beats my bat," Billie said, earning a laugh from Daniel.

As the two cut up, the chicken got closer to the shower; before he locked his gaze on Daniel and slapped a nice, wet, and sticky egg on Daniel's poor head. Billie couldn't help but burst out laughing, feeling slightly bad for giggling at his misery—but too amused to stop.

"You may wanna go wash that out!" Billie suggested, still cracking up.

Daniel raised his brows. "You think? I'll be back in a bit, Billie!" he raised his voice over the crowd, before speeding off towards the men's bathroom.

Billie shook her head in fondness, watching him scurry off, before returning to her friends. They all had looks of pure amusement, all clearly struggling not to laugh.

"So, I take it you and your boyfriend had a good time," Cassidy teased, grinning evilly at Billie. She was definitely living up to her costume.

"He's not my boyfriend—but yes, we did," Billie corrected with an undeniable grin.

  "Good, 'cause it definitely looked like it," Ali said, looking thoughtfully at Billie. "I haven't seen you that happy in many many years."

  "Well, love'll do that to you," Susan butt in knowingly, smiling softly at Billie.

  "Oh God, don't go and get all sappy! You know I hate that shi—"

Before Billie could completely comprehend what in the actual living hell was happening, Daniel burst into the room, yelling at people to move aside. Oh shit. Billie thought worriedly. God, what did he do?

As he raced past her, Billie yelled out at him.

"Daniel? What happened—What's wrong?"

"Shit happened! It hit the goddamn fan!" he called out huffing, sprinting as fast as he could out of there.

"Damn it!" Billie yelled as Johnny and about four other guys sped past her. Billie took the opportunity to stick out her foot and trip Johnny, sending them all tumbling down. She needed to give Daniel time to get away, but as they got up quickly and raced off—Billie's hope for that plan disappeared.

Cursing to herself again, Billie gripped her bat tighter in her hand and began rushing through her options. If Daniel didn't make it to the apartment complex, he would be jumped and beat to a pulp—possibly even more, depending on what he did to Johnny. If he did, he'd be safe and out of harms way for now, but Billie knew Johnny was relentless. He would hunt Daniel down in till he got the sweet revenge he seems to always crave. So, Billie knew what her only option was: go after Daniel and attempt to help him. After all, it was her fault he was even in this situation anyways—which meant it was her job to protect him.

Taking a deep breath, Billie suddenly took off after the boys, leaving her friends yelling after her. Luckily, Billie's track abilities quickly kicked in, and she was sprinting faster than she ever had before (Or at least it felt like that.). Holding her bat close to her side, she allowed her legs to carry her past the car wreck she was sure Daniel was the cause of, feeling the wind tear through her hair. Quickly, she found herself in the woods, and when she whipped past a tree she suddenly felt her hair fall from its knot, now flowing out behind her.

"Damn it!" she cursed aloud. "That was a good hair tie, too!"

With her run completely devoid of any kind of pacing, she slowed down upon a chain fence, gauging how she would get over it. Using her brain (For once.), she tossed her bat over the fence and hauled herself over afterwards, panting as she landed on the grass. She picked up her bat and sprang off again, starting to hear yelling through the trees that sounded an awful lot like Daniel. Shit! She thought in horror. They got him.

Speeding up as quick as she could, she raced through the grass, eyes locking on the scene not far in front of her. Daniel was pressed up against another chain fence just shy of the apartment building, and one of Johnny's cronies was holding him up, letting Johnny torture him in whatever evil way he wanted. Kick after kick slammed into Daniel's hastily weakening body, the laughs of the boys loud and obnoxious. The sight made her blood boil, and when she finally arrived she made sure to make her presence known.

"Johnny fucking Lawrence, let him go!" she practically screamed, anger ticking through her like a ticking time bomb—so much so she cussed out a word that she normally would never use. In the heat of the moment, Billie's instincts kicked in, and before she knew it, her hands were wrapped around her bat and she was swinging it right into the back of one of the boys' heads; hearing a deafening scream erupt from the victim. She looked on in a mix of horror and satisfaction as he fell to the ground, clearly out cold.

  "What the hell?" She heard one of them say, and as her gaze caught Daniel and his captor, she saw something—or—someone she'd never expected.

  Mr. Miyagi had jumped over the fence and was now actively attacking Johnny and his friends, moving with such skill and accuracy that Billie's eyes nearly popped out of her head. In mere seconds, they were all on the ground, some knocked out, some just hurt to the point of not standing, and others (Johnny.) too wounded and embarrassed to get up.

  She gawked as she rushed over to Daniel and Mr. Miyagi, eyes momentarily meeting with Johnny's beaten and battered face. He looked at her in what she read as shock, fear, and despair, but surprisingly no anger. Part of her wanted to feel bad, but she quickly squashed and killed that part. That boy is a monster, you shouldn't feel bad for him. She convinced herself, continuing on to Mr. Miyagi.

  "Mr. Miyagi—I-I have no words—what do we do—"

  "Help me get him stable, Billie-san. It is what you do," he instructed firmly, eyes hard and bronzed. He reminded her of a superhero, in how stoic and focused he looked. "Go on, help!"

  Suddenly startled out of her slight moment of shock, she moved quickly to help Mr. Miyagi hold Daniel, settling for holding his head and neck whilst Miyagi took the torso and downwards.

  As they worked hastily to get Daniel to safety, Billie's mind was somehow both racing and blank; but, one crystal clear thought remained. What in the hell just happened?

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^^^^^ this pic is honestly just Billie the last whole half of this chapter. Like wtf 😭😭

Well hello hello, what a surprise to see you here. This poor fic has been neglected for a while, and honestly I just missed Dillie so I had to throw out this chapter, lmao. Hopefully updates will come quicker, bc I am really digging all my eighties/eighties inspired fics at the moment (So expect an Unchained Melody and possibly a New Legacy, Old History update soon!). But yeah, I'm so glad Dillie gets to make a comeback and with that I'm gone!! 👋